Android devices have changed the way we approach a problem. The first thing we do is search on our phones for the answer to our questions. For those answers, you have various apps installed on our android phone. We can install various such apps from the google play store but have you thought about how to extract APK from android on computer of modern times?
There are some ways to extract APK files of the installed apps. The APK files are the file format that is supported by the android operating system. APK stands for Android application package file. This is useful when you want to transfer system apps from your phone to another android device. You can choose your desired app and transfer it to the destination android device without much problem.
A. Using Google Files app as the answer to how to extract APK from android on computer
For this to happen, we need to follow some steps of the file explorer method: –
- Find the google files app on your android phone.
- If not present, install the app from the google play store.
- Now, go to the Browse option.
- Now select the Apps option and find the desired app, APK of which you want to extract.
- now click on the three buttons option on the selected app.
- Select the share option.
- Select the desired location.
- Select Ok.
- Now APK of your desired app is safe.
- Now, follow the following steps, if you have selected to save the APK in the phone memory or SD card.
- Now connect your phone to the PC/ Windows 10 computer.
- On your computer select your android device in the Windows File Explorer.
- Go to the desired folder where you have saved the app APK.
- Copy the desired APK.
- Paste the APK into your PC.
- Now, your selected app APK is backed up on your PC.

Now you will be able to solve the issue of how to extract apk from android on computer.
What if an android device is not detected by the computer?
Now, follow the following steps if your computer is unable to detect your android device via USB.
- Find the google files app or any other suitable file explorer app on your android phone.
- If not present, install the app from the google play store.
- Now, go to the Browse option.
- Now select the Apps option and find the desired app, APK of which you want to extract.
- now click on the three buttons option on the selected app.
- Select the share option.
- Select the desired location on your SD card.
- Select Ok.
- Now APK of your desired app is safe on your SD card.
- Now, follow the following steps, if you have selected to save the APK in the phone memory or SD card.
- Remove the SD card from your android smartphone or android device.
- Take an SD card adapter.
- Put your SD card into the adapter.
- Now connect your adapter to the PC/ Windows 10 computer.
- On your computer select your android device in the Windows File Explorer.
- Go to the desired folder where you have saved the app APK.
- Copy the desired APK.
- Paste the APKfile directly to your PC.
- Now, your selected app APKis backed up on your PC.
B. Cloud service
For this option to work, you need to have a cloud service account. So kindly select a cloud service and create an account on the platform to tackle the question of how to extract APK from android on computer.
For beginners, you can use Google Drive. It will offer you 15GB of free storage space.
Follow the following steps if you want to answer the question of How to extract APK from android on a computer:-
- Find the google files app on your android phone.
- If not present, install the app from the google play store.
- Now, go to the Browse option.
- Now select the Apps option and find the desired app, APK of which you want to extract.
- Now click on the three buttons option on the selected app.
- Select the share option.
- Select the desired cloud service.
- Select Ok.
- Now APK of your desired app is stored on the cloud service platform.
- Now, follow the following steps: –
- Now switch on your PC/ Windows 10 computer.
- On your computer open a web browser. ( For amateurs, some web browser examples are Firefox and Chrome)
- Open the website of the cloud service which you use.
- Go to the desired folder where you have saved the app APK.
- Select the desired APK file.
- Download the APK on your PC.
- Now, your selected app’s actual APK file is backed up on your PC.
But there is one cache in the above-explained steps. The app data won’t be backed up with your APK file. But these steps can work on your android smartphone and even all android tablets. It will be easier for you now when a question like how to extract apk from android on computer arises.
In the modern android version like android 10 and android 11, you can share your android app directly between android devices. But the app must be supported by other android devices.
One important to note here is that if you want to backup various APK files, then you can create a single zip file for all your apps.

C. Using the popular Airdroid method
People who regularly use an android device, know about the Airdroid application. It is a popular application that is used to transfer or send APK files among all your files from one device to another android device. For this, signing up is also simple for a free Airdroid account.
This method will help you to get the APK file that you need on your other android devices. Now let’s have a look at some of the steps that can save you from the question of how to extract APK from android on computer.
- First of all, you will need to download the free app of Airdroid from the google play store.
- Sign in to your free Airdroid account.
- Select any app which you want to share. Take for an example calculator app.
- Now open the Airdroid website on your computer. ( Airdroid is also a browser-based service)
- Select share and select the target device.
- Now your desired app apk or all selected apps apk will be shared with your computer.
- Caution: Airdroid supports LAN.
- Both of your devices need to be connected to the same wifi network.
Various third-party apps can help you to transfer files and even APK files between devices. This will block the question of how to extract APK from android on computer.
A simple google search can help you in identifying some apps similar to Airdroid. Some of these apps can even be found on the Windows store for greater access for Windows PC users.
A third-party app that is similar to Airdroid works as a web app. The app is called APK extractor. An APK extractor helps you to extract APK files directly. After they extract the APK files, the third-party app will allow you to share many android apps at once between an android device and a computer. This will also solve your problem of how to extract APK from android on computer.
A file manager, also called file explorer, even allows sharing of multiple apps between devices. In some cases, all the installed apps cannot be shared between different android smartphones and computers.
Now using the APK files to install apps on your android smartphone or any other android device is relatively easy. It will solve your issue of how to extract APK from android on computer of modern times.
Simply put the APK file on your device and open the file using any free file manager app. If the app is supported on your device then it will simply install. Otherwise, the process will show an error message stating the reason.
Now, follow the following steps to use the APK files on other devices:
- Go to the settings of your android device.
- Go to apps and notifications.
- Select special app access.
- Select Install unknown apps.
- Search for file manager in the list and select it.
- Select allow from this source.
- Now after following the above steps: –
- Go to file manager.
- Select the APK file.
- Click on install.
You will need root access. Then the rooted android device can be used to extract APK files from an android device onto a computer.
The next easy option to back up the APK is to download APK from a website. This will solve the problem of how to extract APK from android on computer of modern times. Various third-party websites can easily find APK files of the desired version and application.
To know the version of your android app, follow the following simple steps:
- Select an app.
- Long press the icon of the selected app.
- A pop-up options window will appear.
- Now click on the small “i” icon present in the options window.
- Your app settings page will open.
- Select the storage and cache option.
- Now you can see the version number of your app written below the app icon.
Now, you can easily select multiple apps and easily face the question of how to extract APK from android on computer.
Hopefully, the article could clear some of your doubts. The steps given above, are easy to comprehend and follow. Bookmark this page for future use.
Last Updated on November 16, 2022 by Laveleena Sharma